


A Challenge in Flexibility

by RenGoneMad



Category: Naruto
Genre: A tiny little moment of jealousy, Adorable Hatake Kakashi being adorable, Canon Compliant, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, It's just Hatake Kakashi showing off, KakaIru Fest Summer 2020, M/M, POV Hatake Kakashi, Seduction, Showing Off, That's it that's all of the angst right there, Trying to impress Iruka, Week 1 Prompt: Summer Sports, that's basically it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25972669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenGoneMad/pseuds/RenGoneMad
Summary: “Hmm.” Kakashi leaned forward, eye narrowing as his face drew closer to Iruka’s. “You're just hoping I’ll fall flat on my ass, aren't you?”Iruka gave an indignant squawk, a flush rising to darken his cheeks. “Of course not!”“Maa, it’ll be your responsibility if I have a broken ass after this, sensei.”
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 35
Kudos: 338
Collections: Nine Weeks of Summer 2020





	A Challenge in Flexibility

**Author's Note:**

> I just so happened to accidentally stumble upon this deleted scene from a longer work of mine and thought: "Hey! Gymnastics! Summer sports!" So I cleaned it up a bit and I'm bringing the fluff for once. xD
> 
> Basically, this is just Kakashi having an adorable crush. 
> 
> Thank you to Nina for doing a read-through of this and being a generally awesome, supportive person. <3

“You do both know this obstacle course is meant for children?”

“Good evening, Iruka-sensei!” Guy grunted, managing to bridge a gap between strained and ecstatic. The strain likely had more to do with holding his upside-down handstand on the monkey bar.

Kakashi turned a page in _Icha Icha Violence_ before glancing up. “Ah, but it seems like such a shame for the equipment to go to waste while the Academy's closed.”

“What are you two even doing?” Iruka asked dubiously, watching as Guy swung down, jack-knifing his body in half to try to hook his knees around the next bar. He managed to catch it with his ankles instead, using that as leverage to squirm up until he could let go of the last bar without falling the flimsy ten feet. 

“We—are competing—in the art of—” Guy huffed and broke off as he attempted to swing to the next rung, flailing a bit less this time as his body grew accustomed to such precise movements. 

“Flexibility.” Kakashi supplied. He peered over the edge of his page for his eyes to roam Iruka’s figure, taking advantage of the fact that both other parties were too distracted to notice. 

“Indeed. You—Iruka-sensei—can be our—judge.” Guy didn’t manage to bend himself in time, knocking the tops of his feet into the bar hard enough to generate a harsh clang. 

Iruka winced in sympathy before the words seemed to catch up to him. “What, me? Uh, I’m not really qualified to—”

“Nonsense!” Guy did another handstand, across two bars this time. Strangely enough, for Guy, that was taking a break. His glossy hair fell into an arch and his broad grin turned upside-down. It wasn't a much stranger sight than when he was standing upright. “You are most respected among your peers and the children you so nobly guide! I trust you to be honorable and impartial! Don’t you, Kakashi?” 

“Hmm?” Kakashi made sure his gaze was on his book long before the chūnin turned around. “Sure, sure. Unless the good sensei has somewhere to be. We wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Actually, I—”

“Then it’s decided! As thanks, whichever of us loses shall treat the winner and Iruka-sensei to a fulfilling meal! Although, if I lose, I shall also complete five-hundred backflips before the day is through!” 

“That’s really not necessary.” Iruka waved his hands in front of him as if fending off Guy’s vows.

Kakashi sighed. “Backflips wouldn’t be very conducive to eating, Guy.”

“Ah.” Guy swung down to restart his routine of abrupt jackknives between bars. “My Rival makes—an excellent point! In that case—I shall pay for you and—Iruka-sensei to share a meal.” He executed the fifth swing much more quickly, although it was less 'flexibility' and more an exercise in sheer willpower. “But I shall not lose! My upper-body strength is—far superior to yours, Kakashi!”

Iruka sat down in the grass just a few feet from Kakashi, apparently settling in for the long haul. He frowned, lips tugging down at the edges but didn’t immediately reject the notion of a free dinner. 

Kakashi was quite full from the lunar moths in his stomach already, but he wasn’t going to complain. 

“This isn’t about strength.” Kakashi reminded Guy. He turned another page for the sake of his aloof image, but he hadn’t read a single sentence since feeling Iruka’s chakra approaching. “You wanted to use the bars, but I could prove my flexibility with yoga, or a sultry tango.” 

“Gah!” A thump sounded as Guy hopped off the last rung. He pointed dramatically at Kakashi. “That wouldn’t be fair to Iruka-sensei, who has taken on the heavy burden of arbitrating our manly, hot-blooded competition! We must provide him with a level playing field on which to judge our skills!” He beamed smugly, and Kakashi got the distinct feeling Guy thought he was pulling one over on Kakashi, though he wasn’t sure how. 

Guy stomped over, lifted Kakashi up with broad hands clamped on his shoulders, and gave him a shove towards the bars. 

“Guy, I think you give the man too little credit. I’m sure he can estimate us no matter how I prove it. Right, sensei?” Kakashi smiled, eye creasing into an imploring arch.

Iruka cleared his throat and reached up to rub his scar. “I'm sure you could come up with plenty of ways, Kakashi-sensei, but I think Guy-sensei has a point.”

“Hmm.” Kakashi leaned forward, eye narrowing as his face drew closer to Iruka’s. “You're just hoping I’ll fall flat on my ass, aren't you?”

Iruka gave an indignant squawk, a flush rising to darken his cheeks. “Of course not!”

“Maa, it’ll be your responsibility if I have a broken ass after this, sensei.” Kakashi thrust his book forward, pressing it to Iruka’s chest until tanned hands reflexively rose to take it. His fingers tingled as they brushed. 

"Hold this for me." Kakashi lowered his voice to a murmur. “But make sure you don’t start reading until I’m done, sensei. You'll need to watch me _closely_.” He paused, watching as Iruka's expression shifted from indignant to flustered. Then he straightened and smiled brightly. “If I’m going through this much effort, my victory needs to be indisputable.”

“Ha! You’ll be eating those words in mere minutes, Rival!” Guy crowed, resting his hands on his hips as he watched Kakashi saunter over to the bars. 

“We’ll see.” Kakashi replied. He wiped his gloves on his pants to ensure the leather was dry, then lightly jumped up, grasping the first rung.

Flexing his legs, Kakashi swung back and forth a few times to gain momentum, visually judging the distance between himself and the next bar. It had looked disastrously small under Guy’s broad frame, but Kakashi was lithe in comparison. His hips could fit through the gap without any trouble. The problem was really his height, which was predominantly in his legs. If he just…

With a sudden flex, Kakashi crunched his abdominals, snapping his lower half up, nearly hitting his knees into his chest as he propelled himself skyward. He slid through the space easily, but didn’t adjust his hands quickly enough on the bars, wrenching his thumbs painfully to the sides. 

Pausing for a moment in a handstand as Guy had done, Kakashi took a deep breath, closing his eyes to block out the disturbing transition of grass and sky. Unlike Guy, who had dropped like a stone to hook his knees around the bars and swing through, Kakashi tried a different approach. He kept his legs together and slowly lowered them in front of him, straining his core to keep perfectly still while his body formed an ‘L’. 

There was more strength involved in this than he had thought, but despite Guy's words, Kakashi was no slouch himself. He would, however, be sore for at least a few days; there was no conceivable world in which he asked their new Hokage to heal muscle strain from impromptu gymnastics. She would laugh so hard she'd spew sake.

He let go, swinging through the rung feet first, carrying the momentum to make it through the next in one smooth motion, a revolving crescent. 

Halfway through the course, he switched to Guy’s style, hooking his knees around the bars, but didn’t pause to stop in between, weaving through them like a slightly dizzy monkey in the jungle. Blood started to rush disconcertingly to Kakashi’s head, distorting his sense of time. 

His motions were definitely smoother than Guy’s, but did that make him more flexible? Perhaps he should go another step. 

After all, there wasn’t just his Eternal Rivalry with Guy on the line, or enough cash for a meal (a fairly standard bet between them). 

If he won, he would have the perfect excuse to have dinner with Iruka. _Alone_. 

Yeah, he was going all out. 

On the next bar, he paused at the top, lifting himself into a handstand. This time, he bent backwards, knees folding. His entire body curved in a graceful arch as his feet landed on top of a bar a few rungs away. Kakashi didn’t have crystalline clarity through the whooshing in his ears, but he was pretty sure he heard a gasp, and it wasn’t dramatic enough to be Guy’s. 

The next rung, he swooped through by tucking his legs so close that they touched his chest and slid through the loop of his arms. 

He only noticed he was at the end when silver metal was changed out for matte green, signaling the end of his routine. Swinging his feet forward, he gathered momentum and— 

—flung himself into the air, spinning three times before landing, perfectly steady, on the ground. 

Well, _almost_ steady. The challenge wasn’t balance, so he didn’t think his slight stumble should count against him. 

After a precious second to right himself and allow his heart to restart proper circulation, Kakashi turned to his observers. 

Guy had his face buried within the bark of a tree, muffled sobs about his Eternal Rival and their new score floating in the air. 

They missed Kakashi’s brain entirely as his gaze fell on Iruka. 

Iruka, whose blush had spread to his neck, and whose wide, dark eyes were transfixed… on _Kakashi_. 

For the first time, _Kakashi_ wasn’t the one watching. 

His throat was too tight, his heart jammed somewhere in it, but he made his way to Iruka at a sedate pace. He thanked every shinobi that came before him for the concept of masks. “So, what’s your assessment, Iruka-sensei?” 

“You win.” Iruka breathed, soft and weighty as a confession to Kakashi’s hopeful ears. “I mean,” the teacher coughed, “it was close, but, uh…”

“There’s no need to explain.” Guy held out a hand, fingers splayed wide. He raised his head to reveal puffy, reddened eyes and tear-trails down his cheeks. “I am proud to have such a talented and skilled warrior as my Eternal Rival! But I shall not be deterred! I will work until I have the flexibility of a snake—nay, a slug! I will follow my Rival’s example and practice until I can surpass his boneless fluidity, showing—”

Kakashi held out a hand, palm up. Guy paused, blinking away tears to see it more clearly. Kakashi made a grabby motion with his fingers. “Ryo, Guy?”

“Oh. Yes.” Guy pulled a slim coin purse from a hidden pocket beneath his belt and counted out coins. He paused after a few. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Reluctantly, Guy counted out a few more. Squinting his eyes at Kakashi for a moment, he then turned to Iruka and grabbed his hand, abruptly depositing the money in his palm. “My Rival has a most dishonorable habit of leaving his companions with the bill, so I entrust you with the winnings of our bet, Iruka-sensei.” He said seriously, closing Iruka’s fingers around the coins. 

Iruka’s lips pinched together, an attempt to withhold either a laugh or a grimace, and nodded. Guy smiled so broadly that his teeth glinted. 

And he was still holding Iruka’s hand.

Kakashi grabbed him by the back of his jumpsuit and dragged him a few feet away. Guy came easily. 

“Ah, yes, the backflips! Perhaps we will all get a chance to eat together on another day. Enjoy your youthful dinner!” He gave a huge thumbs-up, stretched his arms across his chest, and then twisted into a series of backflips that swiftly carried him off the Academy lawn. 

When Kakashi looked over, Iruka was standing and watching the disappearing green smudge, eyebrows raised in that Guy-Stunned look Kakashi had gotten to recognize well over the years. 

“So, sensei, where would you like to eat?” He slipped his hands in his pockets, following Guy’s approximate trail at a more sedate pace. Iruka scrambled to rise, swinging his satchel over his shoulder and grabbing the discarded erotica. 

Kakashi half-expected Iruka to give him half of the money and dart away. They hadn’t spoken since Naruto left, and were never on more than friendly-acquaintanceship terms before that, if friendly acquaintances tended to openly antagonize each other over the mission desk. 

Kakashi was firmly of the opinion that they did. 

“You’re the winner, so you should choose.” Iruka said, holding out _Icha Icha Violence_ to its owner in offering.

“Maa…” Kakashi wanted to tell Iruka to keep it, but he could already imagine the scandalized glares that would plague the sensei. Kakashi had grown to appreciate them over the years. He took the book, running his thumb over the pages to draw out the source of comfort its well-loved pages held. “In that case…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, looking up to the waning sun. “...I happened to get a good sale on ribeyes yesterday.” 

Iruka’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I’m not really known for my cooking prowess.” 

“Ah, but I am.” Kakashi raised a finger. “Or, I would be, if I cared to make it known. You’ll have to guard the secret with your life.” 

The teacher glanced at him sideways for one more moment before shaking his head, a small smile tugging at his mouth. “I’ll be the judge of your _prowess_ , then. If it’s substandard, I might just let it slip in the mission room that your kitchen is an open buffet.” 

“Open just for you, Iruka-sensei. But I’m confident you’ll find it to your tastes.” Kakashi’s grin was hidden behind fabric, but Iruka was more observant than people gave him credit for.

“And if it’s not? How will you make it up to me?” 

Iruka could _definitely_ hear the smug satisfaction that came with a nearly-audible _ping_ as he fell into the trap. Kakashi leaned close, voice pitched low. “I never did get to demonstrate my flexibility the way I wanted. I’d be happy to do a private rendition for you.” 

Maroon painted the tips of Iruka’s ears and across his nose. He clutched the strap of his satchel like it was going to fly away from him. 

But when the chūnin spoke, his eyes were bright with a mischievous spark, lips curling to a smirk. 

“I’m warning you now, I don’t know the tango—but I’m damn good at salsa.” 

Kakashi’s startled chuckle was half-shock, half-amusement, and entirely anticipation.

It was probably best to wait for a few more dates before letting Iruka near Guy again. There was no guarantee Kakashi’s Eternal Rival wouldn’t reveal that Kakashi was the one who chose the challenge, and suggested the perfect time and location for it to take place.


End file.
